Google Chrome News! HP Makes A ChromeBook, Notification Center Leaks.

It’s gearing up to be a big week for Chrome already, and it’s only Monday.

Two big pieces of news for Chrome today. HP announced it’s first Chromebook device for sale, and more news regarding the upcoming Chrome notification center has surfaced.

First, let’s talk about HP’s new offering.

The device, named the Pavilion 14 Chromebook, is a device very similar to the existing Chromebook devices with one exception: it has a full sized screen. The device is sporting a full 14 inch LCD display, compared to the typical 10 – 13 inch offerings. HP hopes that this difference will persuade people to purchase their Chromebook over others. Aside from that, everything is very similar to the Acer C7 model that launched late last year. It will have a 1.1GHZ Intel Celeron 847 processor, 2gb RAM, and 16GB of storage. The battery life on this is actually worse than the battery life on the C7, which was highly criticized itself. The pavilion is rated for 4 hours 15 minutes of continuous use, which is close to the Acer C7’s, but significantly lower than the ARM powered Samsung version.

The Pavilion 14 Chromebook does have a nicer aesthetic style than the Acer, which might persuade users to purchase it. It is available today from HPDirect.com at $330. The existence of this device is great for Google because it shows that manufacturers are beginning to take an interest in the Chrome operating system.

Speaking of the Chrome OS, new details about the rumored systemwide notification center have surfaced. François Beaufort has posted an image on his Google+ page today showing a new screenshot of the implementation and how it looks in the ChromeOS environment.

The notifications are interesting here because they cover “messages” (no indication whether email, Gtalk, or SMS), Google+ sharing, as well as missed call notifications. Does this mean that Google is working on a unified messaging system? Only time will tell. One thing is certain though, this notification system is beautifully implemented. It really demonstrates the power of the unified notification pane that was introduced in Android, as well as the minimalism aesthetics of the Google Now theme. I can’t wait to see more.

It’s gearing up to be a big week for Chrome already, and it’s only Monday.

Two big pieces of news for Chrome today. HP announced it’s first Chromebook device for sale, and more news regarding the upcoming Chrome notification center has surfaced.

First, let’s talk about HP’s new offering.

The device, named the Pavilion 14 Chromebook, is a device very similar to the existing Chromebook devices with one exception: it has a full sized screen. The device is sporting a full 14 inch LCD display, compared to the typical 10 – 13 inch offerings. HP hopes that this difference will persuade people to purchase their Chromebook over others. Aside from that, everything is very similar to the Acer C7 model that launched late last year. It will have a 1.1GHZ Intel Celeron 847 processor, 2gb RAM, and 16GB of storage. The battery life on this is actually worse than the battery life on the C7, which was highly criticized itself. The pavilion is rated for 4 hours 15 minutes of continuous use, which is close to the Acer C7’s, but significantly lower than the ARM powered Samsung version.

The Pavilion 14 Chromebook does have a nicer aesthetic style than the Acer, which might persuade users to purchase it. It is available today from HPDirect.com at $330. The existence of this device is great for Google because it shows that manufacturers are beginning to take an interest in the Chrome operating system.

Speaking of the Chrome OS, new details about the rumored systemwide notification center have surfaced. François Beaufort has posted an image on his Google+ page today showing a new screenshot of the implementation and how it looks in the ChromeOS environment.

The notifications are interesting here because they cover “messages” (no indication whether email, Gtalk, or SMS), Google+ sharing, as well as missed call notifications. Does this mean that Google is working on a unified messaging system? Only time will tell. One thing is certain though, this notification system is beautifully implemented. It really demonstrates the power of the unified notification pane that was introduced in Android, as well as the minimalism aesthetics of the Google Now theme. I can’t wait to see more.